Driving down narrow lanes

The user and all related content has been Deleted User

The user and all related content has been Deleted User

I've often wondered about such a scenario. Having a motorhome, I can go three days with onboard facilities, so I could just sit it out. 

Hi, yes can happen to anyone and did to us on Saturday BUT we were  on the single track lane to our storage area and were faced with another outfit leaving. I had to reverse and this meant the outfit was across the whole road as I emerged form the lane but after a short wait a kind soul stopped and waved me out.

The access to our village is single track with passing places so we tend to get a bit of practice reversing but when towing I think even the moist confident will be daunted by the prospect and for me on Saturday the biggest problem was the overgrown hedges preventing any sort of clear view to the rear.

Most situations will be resolved quickly and for us sitting tight, when you are clearly unable to progress, has been the best way to persuade others to reverse.

It is very few who are like the "person" you met ,normally other road users are more courteous,

we have only in the years we have been towing had your problem as far as i can remember only once ,but as i said to the other driver  ,"I am sure we have more time than you to waste" after about five minutes he backed into a gateway a few yards behind him

The biggest surprise we had was on one of our visits to my brother on the IOW when we had one of our motor caravans and a bus reversed about 50yds to allow us to pass

There is no rule and no right or wrong. However, anyone towing needs to he capable of reversing their unit to cope with such an eventuality. 

Buses and tractors will often reverse because it's quicker for them to do so than to wait for a tugger to struggle but they haven't always got the space needed. Would any of us seriously sit tight and expect a bus to give way? Would any of us automatically expect any vehicle to give way? It's no wonder caravans and the like get a bad name at times.

Unfortunately you do occasionally come across folk like the one in your account. A couple of years ago, when not towing, we met a car on a very narrow lane. I hadn't passed a pull in for ages so waited to see if the other driver reversed. There was no movement so I assumed it was the same for them and I reversed about 200 yards to the nearest gateway. On continuing we noticed a passing place the other car could have reversed into only a few yards back. Fortunately when towing I have always found folk in cars accommodating. On the rare occasion it was necessary to reverse, like AD, it was all relatively straight line.

You need to come to our narrow lanes,to see how  the "locals" expect right of way 

Speaking as a driver, I would always give way to anything towing, no matter how large or small the trailer, if I wasn’t towing. That said, there are a lot of drivers out there who for one reason or another find reversing anything very difficult, let alone a trailer. It does pay to practise the skill, particularly towing or anything large. 

Some trailers, small ones, can be absolute so and so’s to reverse, jackknife instantly. Easier to unhitch and push if not too heavy.

Lanes round us are tiny. I can recall one silly sod of a resident who paced out a local lane, marked a line and simply refused to back up for anything once that line had been crossed. She expected me to try and squeeze half a ton of a ton of huffing and puffing horse past her one day. Incapable of reversing, her neck no longer functioned and her mirrors didn’t exist. 🤷‍♀️

I hate to even have to contemplate this let alone type it 😱 but as you were called love I assume you're female and the other driver was male?

Sadly this sort exists 😡😤

I so like cyberyacht's reply 🤣

It is amazing how many folk can't reverse their car let alone anything bigger. Personally I'd always give way to a vehicle towing, I don't tow myself 😱. And equally I'd expect and be grateful if a car reversed for me in a motorhome, simply because they are shorter. All that said of course it does depend on the actual meeting point.

Sadly manners are not always evident in many walks of life these days, vehicle or no vehicle. The 'I'm more important/justified etc than you' prevails so often.

In Takethedogalong's instance I'd shift - a horse can do much damage and be unpredictable! But then you only have to watch other drivers approach a horse or cyclist 🚴‍♂️.